Cleaning cover for brooms



Dec. 13, 1960 J. M. HOOTS CLEANING CQVER FOR BROOMS Filed Dec. 10, 1958INVENTOR: Y 1 3 JAMES M. Hoo'rs ATTORNEYS United States Patent CCLEANING COVER FOR BROOMS James M. Hoots, 213 Church St., High Point,N.C.

Filed Dec. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 779,409

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-247) This invention relates to cleaning covers forbrooms and more particularly to a cleaning cover which is made oftextile material and is adapted to be easily and quickly applied to andremoved from a broom.

There are several types of cleaning covers for brooms presentlyavailable, all of which are secured to the broom by tying with stringsor tape which is attached to the cover. In order to apply and removethis type of cleaning cover, it is necessary to position the cover inthe correct position on the broom and then tie the strings or tape,which can be time consuming and aggravating. Cleaning covers have alsobeen provided with snap fasteners to secure the cover in position on thebroom but this type cover must be properly positioned before it issecured to the broom and the snap fasteners make laundering and cleaningthe cover diflicult.

The primary object of this invention is to overcome the above-listeddifficulties by providing a cleaning or duster cover of textile materialwhich may be easily and quickly applied to and removed from the brushportion of a broom thereby facilitating the easy conversion of the broomto a dusting utensil.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cleaning cover whichis resiliently held on the brush portion of a broom and thus, the covermay be held in any of several positions on the brush portion of thebroom. Since the cover may be positioned in several positions on thebroom, the present cover is more versatile than other known types andmay be used for difierent cleaning operations.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cleaning cover whichis formed of a textile material in a simple and economical manner andwhich does not have strings or the like attached thereto, whereby thecover may be readily laundered in home washing machines and the like.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a broom showing the duster cover of thepresent invention positioned in one operative position on the brushportion of the broom;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the lower portion of the broomand showing the cluster cover surrounding the broom handle and supportedabove the brush portion of the broom;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the duster coverpositioned in one position for cleaning;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the fabric enclosed inthe dash-dot line rectangle indicated at 4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the duster cover, removed from the broomand at a reduced scale.

Referring to the drawings, the duster or cleaning cover is referred tobroadly at and comprises a tubular fabric sleeve which is preferablyknit on a circular knitting machine with conventional terry knitconstruction to thus 7 2,963,731 Patented Dec. 13, 1960.

provide a pile loop body portion 11 and a stretchable area or band 12 atthe upper end thereof. The lower edge of the body portion 11 is turnedupwardly inside of the sleeve and sewn thereto along the dotted line 13in Figure 5 to form a hem around the lower edge.

When the fabric sleeve 10 is knitted on a circular knitting machine, itis preferred that the stretchable band 12 be formed by laying in elasticor rubber covered yarn 15 (Figure 4) in the knit courses to contract thefabric in this area. Most circular knitting machines are provided withmeans for feeding an elastic yarn to the needles and then laying theelastic yarn in the fabric in a conventional manner. This laying in ofan elastic yarn is the usual practice in knitting the top portion ofmens and childrens hosiery.

The broom on which the present cover is adapted to be secured comprisesa broom head or lower brush portion 20 which is fixed in a conventionalmanner to the lower end of a rigid handle 21. It is necessary that thecover 10 resiliently engage the brush poriton 20 of the broom withenough force to hold the same in position and ordinarily the band 12will possess enough elasticity to support the cover in the positionsshown in Figures 1 and 3 as well as in positions therebetween. However,in order to adapt the cover for use with brooms of different sizes andto make the body portion 11 snugly engage the brush portion 24 of thebroom, it is preferred that the body portion 11 be stretchable.

The body portion 11 is preferably formed of a stretch able type yarn,such as Helanca, combined with a normally non-stretchable yarn, such ascotton or the like. This combination yarn provides enough stretchabilityto the cover 10 so that the cover 10 will frictionally engage the brushportion of the broom and hold the same in position when it is pulleddown over the brush portion of the broom. It may be possible to form thesleeve entirely of non-stretchable yarn as long as the fabric has enoughinherent stretchability to frictionally grip the brush portion of thebroom tight enough to be held thereon.

When not in use, it is contemplated that the cover 10 will be positionedas shown in Figure 2 where it will be supported on the brush portion 20of the broom and surround the handle 21 thereof. Thus, in this position,the cover 10 will not interfere with the usual sweeping operation of thebroom and will be readily accessible when needed to clean the Walls,ceiling or to remove cobwebs and the like from the walls of the room.With the sleeve in the position shown in Figure 2, the cover 10 may beeasily moved to cleaning position by grasping the lower edge or hem ofthe body portion 11 and pulling the cover downwardly to cover the brushportion 20 of the broom. The cover 10 may be pulled to substantially theposition shown in Figure 3, where the lower end of the sleeve 10 willjust barely cover the lower end of the broom or the cover may be pulleddown on the broom so that more of the cover extends beyond the end ofthe broom, as shown in Figure 1.

When using a fabric covered broom to clean and dust walls, ceilings andthe like, only the portion of the cover adjacent the end of the broomcontacts the surface to be cleaned and this portion collects most of thedust and dirt. When the lower portion of the cover 10 becomes dirty, aclean portion may be provided by merely pulling the resiliently heldcover 10 further down on the brush portion 20 of the broom, as shown inFigure 1.

Since the elastic band 12 tightly engages the broom and the body portion11 of the cover It) resiliently engages the brush portion of the broomwith less tension, the cover will remain firmly in any position on thebroom. Also, by positioning the cover 10 on the brush portion of thebroom 20 so that a considerable amount er the lower end ofthe sleevewill be hanging" free over the end of the broom, as shown in Figure 1,the dust cover can be utilized to clean and dust areas which could notbe reached by prior dust covers. For example, with the cover positionedas shown in Figure 1, the broom may 'be raised and moved so that theportionof'the cover hanging downwardly therefrom will" engage and bedragged along the high horizontal surfaces of cornice boards, doorfacings, the upper edges'ot'picturelframes, and the like. 7

Although the cover 10 is described as being formed of a terry knitfabric, it is to be understood that it may be formed of other types 'ofabsorbent textile material, such as woven towel material. band 12 may bewoven in a'separate operation andthen attached to one end of the bodyportion .11' as by sewing.

When the dust cover is dirty or it is desired to again sweep with thebroom, the cover 10'may'beeasily're moved by pulling the same over the'lower end of the broom. In order to again position the cover 10. so thatit will be readily accessible, it is merely necessary to thread or passthe upper end of the broom handle .21 through the cover and release thecover so that it will drop, by gravity, to the position shown in Figure'2. If desired, the inner surface of the cover 10' may be relativelysmooth or may have a terry or other type of fluffy surface so that itmay be turned inside out and used again when one side becomesdirty.

The duster and cleaning cover ofthe'present invention thus provides acleaning article which isad'apte'd to be normally carried by the broomand which can be easily and quickly positioned to cover the brushportion of a broom to thereby convert the broom to a cleaning anddusting appliance. The resilient means for holding the duster cover onthe broom also provides means for positioning the cover in variouspositions on the brush portion of a broom. Since the cluster cover ofthis inven- Also, the stretchable 2,963,731 V i a A 0 tion comprises atextile sleeve which has no attachments, such as strings, tying tape,snaps orthe like, laundering of the sleeve is no problem. a

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaim.

I claim: g r

In a broom construction including. a. brown head and a cleaning coversurrounding and' at least partially covering said broom" head, saidcovercomprising a stretchable tubular textile sleeve frictionallyengaging said broom head under tension throughout the entire area ofsaid sleeve surrounding said broom head, said sleeve being open at bothends, a fastening band on one end of said sleeve, said band having ahigher degree of stretchability than said sleeve and engaging the upperend portion of said broom head for supporting said sleeve on said broomhead, and said band being stretched by the upper portion of said broomhead to assume a tension therein of increased magnitudecomparedto'the'tension in said sleeve induced by the frictional engagement ofsaid sleeve with said broom head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS544,252 Green Aug. 6, 1895 1,357,006 Schloss Oct. 26, 1920 2,101,027Karger no. Dec.- 7, 1937 OLena May 7,

FOREIGN PATENTS 219,842 Great Britain Aug. 2, 1924 396,338 Great BritainAug. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTIONDecember 13 1960 Patent No, $963,731

James Mo Hoots error appears in the above numbered pat- It is herebycertified that aid Letters Patent should read as ent requiringcorrection and that the s corrected below.

Column 4 line 11 for "brown" read broom "'6 Signed and sealed this 9thday of May 1961;

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST we SWIDER DAVID L LADD Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

